Emails Show Fauci Told Colleagues to Delete COVID-Related Communications

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) called on Dr. Anthony Fauci to testify before the U.S. Congress after Paul released several emails from 2020 that show Fauci instructing colleagues to delete messages after reading them.

The email directives, which may violate federal law, contradict Fauci’s congressional testimony last year, when he repeatedly denied deleting official records or engaging in “attempts to obstruct the Freedom of Information Act and the release of public documents.”

Paul published the emails on Wednesday in a series of X posts.

He also posted a copy of a letter he sent to Fauci on Tuesday, asking Fauci to turn over documents and other records and to state his availability to testify before Congress this year.

The emails show that Fauci, who directed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 1984 to 2022, asked colleagues on at least two occasions to delete messages, a possible violation of federal records laws.

The emails also disclose Fauci’s discussions with key public health figures about how to “get ahead of the science and the narrative” during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The emails exchanged ideas on how to promote the “zoonotic” — or natural origin — theory of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. [MORE]